3. please understand… my reasons for not speaking today. i am participating in the day of silence (DOS) a national youth movement bringing attention to the silencefaced by lesbian gay bisexual and transgender people andtheir allies.
4. my deliberate silence echos that silence, which is caused by anti-LGBT bullying name-calling and harassment.
5. i believe that ending the silence is the first step toward building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices.
8. why participate? i believe STAND UP you have got to for what is right even if it means STANDING ALONE
9. statistics Nearly one-fourth of students from elementary through high school have reported that they have been harassed or bullied on school property because of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. -2001-2002 California Student Survey one-fourth harassed bullied
10. statistics Six out of 10 American teens witness bullying at least once a day. -National Crime Prevention Council, 2003 Six out of 10 once a day
11. statistics Students hear anti-gay epithets 25 times a day, and teachers fail to respond to these comments 97% of the time. -Gay Lesbian Straight Educator’s Network. 25 times teachers fail to respond 97%
12. statistics Harassment and bullying have been linked to 75% of school-shooting incidents. -US Secret Service Report, May 2002 75%
13. statistics Gay and lesbian youth are two to three times more likely to commit suicide than other youths, and 30% of all completed youth suicides are related to the issue of sexual identity. -Report to the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide commit suicide
14. statistics 85% of teachers oppose integrating lesbian, gay and bisexual themes in their curricula. -Making Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Youth: Report of the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, 1993
15. statistics More than 64% of LGBT students say they feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation. -GLSEN 2003 National School Climate Survey 64%
16. statistics More than 91% of LGBT students say they hear homophobic slurs or expressions frequently or often. -GLSEN 2003 National School Climate Survey 91%
17. in 2006 lawrence king just turned15years old. he was at the end of his 8th grade year. after to parents and peers, coming out he was relentlessly subjected to bullying by a group of classmates.
18. one day in december, one of those bullies walked into the computer lab armed with a gun, and shot lawrence at range. point-blank instantly. he was killed.
19. In 2008… belindaallen was 14 years old. her classmates teased her about her clothing and taunted her, calling her a “lesbian”
20. it finally became too much, and belinda hungherself from a tree outside a social club using her own scarf.
21. In 2009… carljosephwalker-hoover had endured daily taunts of “being gay” and despite multiple calls and pleas to the school from his mother the teasing continued
22. on monday, april 6, 2009 his mother found carl hanging from his closet. he was 11 years old.
23.
24. everyday you it hear laugh at say allow the problem only gets worse.
26. i am participating because everyday i choose to say nothing when someone says “you’re gay” “faggot” “homo” i become the 97% of teachers who remain silent. everyone needs anadvocate to know they are not alone to know you are not bad less of a person wrong stupid because i’mnot andi’m tired of staying silent.
27. “gay” is nothing to be ashamed of wrong bad stupid less of a person it doesn’t make you it isn’t an insult but trying to make it one always makes at least one person feel like lessof a person
